Oak Fair celebrating best of rural life to mark 10th anniversary with event near Sherbourne

A FAIR celebrating oak, timber and the countryside will mark its 10th anniversary later this year.

The Stock Gaylard Oak Fair will take place near Sherborne and return on the weekend beginning August 23.

The fair will bring together a mixture of rural crafts, conservation projects and local food producers. Dike & Son in Stalbridge, the West Country’s largest independent supermarket, is the event’s main sponsor.

Representatives from the supermarket will be in the food market square over the course of the weekend with Camilla, a life-size milkable model cow. Organisers will encourage visitors to have a go at ‘milking’ Camilla to demonstrate the importance of food provenance.

Andrew Langmead, of Stock Gaylard, said: “We want to thank the Dike & Son team for their continued support over the past 10 years and for sponsoring this very special anniversary.

“We are delighted to have such a well recognised rural business, which shares many of our countryside values behind us for this milestone.”

Last year’s events included a sculptor exhibition, an archery demonstration, dray rides around Church Park and a falconry display.

Andy Dike, managing director of Dike & Son, said there was something timeless about the Oak Fair.

He said: “It is a celebration of the quality and simplicity of rural life.

“We wholeheartedly share the ethos of the event, which embraces traditional values, rustic skills, good food and drink and country ways – and this year we have two days to thoroughly enjoy it.”

The Stock Gaylard estate is a small traditional country estate surrounded by centuries’ old hedgerows and an 80-acre deer park.

The estate is approximately 1,700 acres and is eight miles away from Sherborne. Over the past couple of centuries the estate has been used for county sports, with woodlands left preserved.

The estate now includes a number of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). A one-day family ticket includes two adults and up to three children, costing £20.

Adult tickets cost £8.50 each and children’s tickets cost £3.50 each. Tickets are now available online at bradsons.co.uk or can be bought on the gate on the day.